


The Nabatean's Ward

by Seigi_Mitsuko



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Byleth is a bit more emotional, Gen, Good Parent Jeralt Reus Eisner, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Seiros is a bad mom/grandma, Sitri is a good mom, Though still emotionally stunted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28745451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seigi_Mitsuko/pseuds/Seigi_Mitsuko
Summary: Jeralt and Sitri knew that Rhea did something to their son.  The signs were all there; a scar on his chest, the lack of crying, the fact that Sitri didn't even get to hold her son for HOURS after the birth.  Yet they were told nothing.  Fearing for him, they decided to go and ask for help from two people that Rhea wouldn't guess.After all, who would ask two ancient survivors of a massacre and war who isolated themselves for over a thousand years to act as babysitters now and then?  And who would have guessed that they would grow attached to the kid?Crossposted on Fanfiction.net
Relationships: Indech & My Unit | Byleth, Jeralt Reus Eisner & My Unit | Byleth, Macuil & My Unit | Byleth, My Unit | Byleth & Sothis, Sitri Eisner | Byleth's Mother & My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 10
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well readers, here's my Fire Emblem: Three Houses story. I made a commitment to post this today and I have delivered. Let me know how you like it. 
> 
> Also, thanks to khleyo here on AO3 for making a comment on my Fire Emblem: Fates fanfic "Distorted Ripples" that dragged my Fire Emblem: Three Houses muse back from an extended vacation. I had to forget all that I wrote before, but I think this is going to be far better.

Sitri held the little bundle close to her chest as she and Jeralt entered the ancient temple. She was usually very stoic, but the fact that they were there and the reason behind it made her very nervous. It was also the first time she had been this far away from the monastery. Her health would usually keep her from going too far. Still, it was something she had to do. It was for the best.

When they entered a larger room, covered in a fog, she knew they were in the right place. That was only further confirmed when a deep voice called out to them.

“Strangers! Leave now! You do not belong here!” Jeralt put his hand on her shoulder protectively, squeezing it gently. With a little hesitation, she nodded up at him and stepped forward.

“You are Indech, aren’t you?” she asked. There was silence for several minutes after the question, but the fog started to fade. When it was all gone, it revealed a large, tortoise-like dragon at the end of the room.

“Why are you here?” he asked. Sitri just looked down at the little bundle, noticing that the baby was awake.

“My mother, Seiros, told me about you. We need your help…. Please… she has done something terrible.” She started to get choked up, clenching the wrappings around her baby a little tighter.

“Come here, then. Let me see.” the dragon said. Jeralt stayed by her side as she walked up to him. When they were close, the dragon transformed into a humanoid form. His green hair was messy, but short enough to see his pointed ears. “Now, what happened.”

“I gave birth a few weeks ago, but when he was born, Mother took him away from me before I could even hold him.” She started to sob, despite Jeralt rubbing circles on her back, trying to comfort her. “When I finally got him back several hours later, she had done something to him. He still doesn’t cry, even when he’s hungry or needs changed. He has a scar on his chest. I don’t know what she did to him, but I had to get him away from her.” Indech hummed in thought.

“Let me see the child.” he requested. With great reluctance, Sitri handed over her baby. Indech examined the boy. He seemed healthy to him, but something was clearly wrong. When handed over to a stranger, the only reaction was looking at him blankly, rather than fussing about being separated from his mother. Removing the blanket over his chest, he could clearly see the scar that she mentioned. He traced the scar, noticing something strange about the placement. It was slightly on the left side, right over his heart. Placing his hand on it, something else caught his notice. “His heart isn’t beating, yet he still lives. How is this…” Then he felt something that shook him to his core. “What has she… oh Seiros…” He covered the child again and handed him back to his mother.

“What is it?” Jeralt asked, noticing the concern. Indech gave him a sad look.

“You made the right choice to get him away from Seiros. Come with me. I need to explain a few things.” He led them to a quiet back room, before sitting them down. “What do you know about the war with Nemesis and beforehand?”

“Sitri knows more about what really happened. Rhea – that is, Seiros – rewrote much of history after it ended.” Jeralt explained, scratching his head. “I know more of what she says happened to the people, but my wife has given me a brief overview.”

“Well, she was obsessed with trying to bring Sothis back to life. We thought that her church would keep her busy so she could begin to heal, but apparently that was wrong.” He sighed and looked at the baby. “It appears she placed Sothis’ heart in your child, likely hoping to turn him into Sothis.”

“What?!” Sitri cried, clutching her son to her chest. Indech shook his head apologetically.

“I’m honestly surprised that you managed to get him away from her. Knowing this, she would have wanted to keep him close to her.”

“Actually, we had to fake the kid’s death.” Jeralt explained, smirking a little to hide his stress. “I set a fire at the monastery and hid the kid with someone who swore to secrecy until we could leave and pick him up. Faking grief and saying we needed time away from the place that held such a horrible memory was good enough.”

“Well, that will help things. If she believes that the child is dead, she won’t be looking for him.” He smiled approvingly, but then grew concerned. “It’s a good thing that you came to me, rather than Macuil. It would have been much more difficult. However, I will need to speak to him about this. He needs to know what she has done.” He stood up and went over to a desk, bringing out some paper and a quill pen. It was time to reach out to an old ally.


	2. Chapter 2: The Wind Caller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Indech's letter in hand, Jeralt goes to meet the second of four legends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are. Chapter 2. I'm probably going to post Chapter 3 tomorrow, so look forward to that.
> 
> Please let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.

Jeralt’s horse struggled in the desert sand, but he urged it on. The letter from Indech was safely in his pouch. He had never been to the Sreng Region, but that was where the letter needed to go. He could only hope that Macuil would let him talk.

Upon reaching the temple, he looked around. It seemed to be empty, but he knew that the person he was looking for was inside. Dismounting, he walked inside and explored a bit until he found the bird-like dragon.

“Halt, human! Leave now or be culled!” he roared. Jeralt was undeterred and walked forward.

“You are Macuil, right? Indech sent me here. It’s important.” he said, bringing out the letter.

“Indech? What is it?” the dragon asked, irritably.

“Seiros did something to my son, her grandson. The letter will explain a bit more, but he wants to talk about it in person.” he said, handing over the paper. The dragon huffed and shifted into a humanoid form before snatching it. As he read it over, his expression turned murderous.

“Where is he?” he growled. It wasn’t quite the reaction that he was hoping for, but it was good enough.

“Lake Teutates. My wife and son are with him.” He turned to leave, hoping to get back to his family as soon as possible, but Macuil stomped after him. When he made it to his horse, he felt a hand on his shoulder stopping him from mounting.

“There’s a faster way there.” Macuil said, casting a spell. With a flash of light, they were outside of Indech’s temple. Without waiting another moment, he turned and went inside, Jeralt tying up his horse quickly and rushing after him.

“Indech!” Macuil called inside. Indech emerged after a few seconds, looking relieved. Jeralt nodded at him and then moved past him to go to his wife.

“I’m glad you came, Macuil.

“Spare the pleasantries, Indech. What did she do? You only mentioned her trying to resurrect Sothis.” he demanded. Indech sighed.

“She took a newborn, the son of her own daughter-which now I am wondering what she did to HER as well, considering her health-and placed Sothis’ heart in his chest. Now the child is not reacting to much of anything and his own heart doesn’t beat, if it is even still in his chest. The parents managed to get him away from her, but they need our help.” Macuil crossed his arms and gave him a skeptical look.

“I hope that ‘help’ would be verbally haranguing her for what she has been attempting.” he said irritably. Indech shook his head.

“If we do that, she will realize that the child is alive and will keep trying to find him. It will be more dangerous for him as he grows up. We can do that once the boy is grown and can protect himself. For now, there are other priorities.”

“Please tell me that we will not be helping them raise their son. Cichol is the only one of us who has raised a child.”

“Macuil, please.” Indech begged. “They have to make sure Seiros doesn’t suspect anything, and they need our help.”

“Fine…” Macuil relented after a minute of staring. “But I’m not going to get attached to him.”

Indech smiled thankfully, then went back to check on the family. Macuil followed him. In the back room, Jeralt was just sitting next to his wife, holding her hand while she held their baby. It seemed that he had just woken up. Indech had given them a room that the priests used to live in, but he added something for their son.

“Did you really build a crib?” Macuil asked.

“He needs to sleep somewhere.” Indech responded casually. Macuil was surprised, if a little incredulous. The only crib that Indech had made was for Cethleann when she was born. And that was because Cichol was like their brother, even before the war. If this family was enough for him to make a crib for them, then something had to be wrong with him. Sitri looked at them at the door and smiled tiredly at them. Indech walked in closer to talk with Jeralt, but Macuil just followed a bit behind, looking at the two of them. Then the bundle caught his eye. Violet eyes were staring up at him blankly, but there was something about him. The mother noticed.

“His name is Byleth.” she introduced. Macuil just stared at him a little. He wondered how early he would start asking questions about them, how soon he would train with a weapon, if he would learn reason magic…

Great. He was already breaking his word.


	3. Chapter 3: Babysitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth is getting older now, which should mean getting into things, but Byleth was never a normal kid. However, the Church of Seiros does continue to check on Jeralt and Sitri, so during those times, guess where their secret child goes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Here's Chapter three. I made a promise to myself that I would get it out tonight, and now I'm going to bed. I hope you like it.

Three years passed since Jeralt and Sitri came to them for help, and they had done a good job keeping Byleth hidden from Seiros. Although, they did have to keep him with the Nabateans when the Knights of Seiros or others with the Church came over to check on them. Though Jeralt did have to start working again. He decided that he would rather be a mercenary instead of rejoining the Knights. The further he could keep his family from Seiros, the better.

So that left him in the position where he had to leave his wife and son for a bit.

“Byleth, I’m going to be gone for two weeks again. I want you to be good for your mother and uncles, ok?” Byleth peeked out from his dark teal bangs into his father’s eyes. He still hadn’t really shown much emotion, but he understood what was going on, even at his young age.

“I will, Father.” he replied stoically. With a sigh, Jeralt ruffled his son’s hair, then kissed his wife goodbye. As he left, Byleth just watched him as he disappeared down the road. Sitri took his hand and led him away, down to the temple where Indech lived and Macuil often visited when they were over. He had claimed it was to keep an eye on the one who held Sothis’ heart, but Indech just smiled knowingly at him whenever he said that.

“Good morning, Sitri. I take it Jeralt already left?” Indech asked. Sitri nodded sadly.

“Judging by their pattern, the church is probably going to send someone to check on me sometime this week. I hope it’s sooner rather than later.” She bent down and hugged Byleth. “I want to spend time with you without worrying about you being discovered.”

“Don’t worry, Sitri.” he placed his hand on their shoulders. “We will take care of him while you’re busy with them. You don’t need to worry.”

“I know, Indech.” She smiled weakly up at him, then she kissed her son’s head. “I’ll be back soon.” Then she left, Byleth watching again as she left his view.

Indech looked down at the boy. Byleth was a quiet child, but the consequences of what Seiros did to him became very evident as he grew. He was far more stoic than any three-year-old had any right to be. Three-year-old boys should be getting into things, following their parents around, and playing, not just staring at people. There was some hint of emotion behind his eyes, but he never let it out. Whether that was because he didn’t know how or because he refused was up in the air.

“Well, Byleth, why don’t we go inside. I think I have some toys for the children in town that need painted. If you help me, I’ll let you have the first pick.” Byleth looked up at him with a flash of an excited gleam in his eyes, even though his face was still apathetic. Still, it was a little emotion. He would take what he could get.

“Aelfric? Is that you?” Sitri asked, seeing a man that was very familiar to her. The man in question smiled.

“Yes, Sitri. It’s me.” he said, reaching out to embrace her. “It’s been a long time.”

“Yes, it has.” Sitri sighed, returning the smile and moving aside to let him in. Thankfully, Byleth’s things were put away, so he wouldn’t see it and ask questions.

“I’ve heard about how you and Jeralt have been doing, but I wanted to see it for myself.” Aelfric prompted, hoping for something good.

“Well, as you can see, I’m fine. Jeralt is away right now, but I’ve made some good friends around here.” she tried to reassure the cardinal. He still looked at her with concern.

“He- He left you alone?” he asked, incredulous, to which Sitri shook her head.

“He trusts me to go to our friends if I need help. And my health has improved a bit since leaving.” She wasn’t sure how that happened, but she was glad for it. “I’ve been feeling better. I think the time away from the monastery has been doing me good.”

Aelfric continued to ask questions for a while. Sitri knew he cared about her, but she was a little uncomfortable with him there. She wanted to be with her son and the longer he took to leave, the longer she had to spend away from Byleth. And when he asked if he could stay the night and leave in the morning, she inwardly cringed, although she kept a pleasant smile on her face.

“Uncle Dec?” Byleth asked quietly, painting a toy with his uncle. Indech looked at the boy, seeing a flicker of confusion.

“Yes, Byleth? Is there something that you want to ask?” he prompted. Byleth just looked down.

“Why doesn’t Uncle Marc like me?” Indech put the toy he was holding down. Of course, Byleth noticed Macuil’s attitude. Children were perceptive, and Macuil hadn’t exactly been subtle about keeping his distance, though he thought that was more a show.

“He does, Byleth.” he tried to explain. “He’s just been through a lot.”

“Like what?” Indech sighed at that question. They had agreed to tell him the story when he was old enough to understand, but perhaps he was ready for a smaller-scale version of the story.

“Macuil and I lost a lot of people close to us and we reacted differently. I withdrew from others to work through my grief, and he turned his grief into rage at those who took our loved ones. He is working through it, though.” He dipped his paintbrush in the next color. “He doesn’t want to be hurt again.”

“I understand, Uncle Dec.” Byleth nodded, going back to painting the toy. Indech hummed in thought for a minute before adding a nice bright red to the toy cart. Only Macuil would be able to change the boy’s perception of him.

He was planning on training him in magic when the boy was old enough. Perhaps time spent together would help a bit.


End file.
